In 1986, a few days after running the Boston Marathon, and following a year of touring the US and Canada in a campervan, I set off by train to realise a dream to walk the Appalachian Trail. I first heard about the Trail from the American wife of a work colleague in Melbourne a few years earlier and had since read widely about the trail. The Trail follows the crest of the Appalachian Mountains for more than 2,200 miles along the eastern side of the US. Starting in mid-spring, I followed the trail northwards from Springer Mountain in Georgia to its northern terminus at Mount Katahdin in Maine, finishing in the late summer. It remains one of the most meaningful experiences of my life, fostering an ambition for more such experiences and inspiring me to retire from work early enough follow through on that ambition. In 1986, only about 80 people each year completed the whole trail, but during that year National Geographic did a feature article on the Trail and its popularity increased dramatically.

Appalachian Trail - Day 059

Day:  059
Date:  Monday, 30 June 1986
Daily AT Miles:  25.7
Daily Other Miles:  0.4 (0.2 spring, 0.2 campsite)
Total AT Miles:  1160.1
Total All Miles:  1196.3
Weather:  Mild, partly sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Macaroni cheese, instant pudding.
Aches:  Feet and back sore (chafing).
Animals Seen:  Squirrels, rabbit, groundhog.
People Seen:  AT trail crew (2), 5 overnight hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 6am and, for some reason, took a long time to get going.  Left at 7:40am.  However, I seemed to cover the miles quickly in the first session which passed through pleasant woods and the remains of an old mining area and the site of the Rausch Gap settlement.  After that, the AT descended to meet a road and then followed various roads for two or three miles – quite populated.  The weight of my pack is beginning to tell on my feet which are excessively sore and I feel tired generally. After crossing under the I-81 several times, the AT climbed back up onto another ridge.  Some of the climb was rocky, as was the Trail along the crest.  There were some views out across the closely farmed valley to the east.  I stopped for lunch at Blue Mountain campsite, having covered a good 18½ miles in the morning (till 2:30pm).  It began spitting while I lunched.  I continued on after an hour’s break with full water bottles.  My pace slowed and I felt very tired (sore feet).  There were also some long difficult rocky stretches.  It took until 7pm to reach Hertlein campsite only seven miles from lunch.  Very slow and I’m a bit concerned I’m overdoing it – 25 miles again tomorrow.  The campsite was quite nice and I had a quick dinner, etc., and got into my tent at 9:10pm.  Rain is forecast.  During the day, I remembered I hadn’t addressed the card sent to Clio.  Tonight is one when I would rather be home.
By

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)